The first time I saw this picture (oh be quiet, you know you have a picture of gelatin desserts that you look at once a week too) I thought our little guy in the front was looking pretty jaunty. He was off to have a day of some sort. Probably a sweet day. He was no longer a mashed mess of bear limbs in a bag. I couldn’t quite see his expression (perhaps because his face just sort of fades away into a blob) but I imagined him smiling.

Today? Today he looks like he has turned away from the group. It is likely they are talking behind his back but because he is RIGHT THERE he can still hear them through his chewy ears. His blob face looks sort of alarmed. Just moments ago the four bears were together in a circle (Or maybe a square if their flat back were aligned correctly.) Now he is alone. And he doesn’t know if he will ever get welcomed back in to the fold. He might as well be eaten. Welcome to my gummy bear mood test. I have found it is a pretty apt determiner of your mad, I mean mood.

When you look at the photo do you think…

The Gummy Bear candy is the pinnacle of edible gelatin applications. Can you imagine if in addition to their good cheer, adorable appearance and delicious taste they could actually give us the vitamins we need each day? They do? Humanity is amazing!

Those other damn bears won’t share their square. Typical.

I want to bite the head off of that bear…. deadly red die just speeds up what is happening to all of us anyways.

Birdsong reminds me of spring and rebirth. I think of possibilities and the incredible cycle of renewal that can come for each of us, and for earth as a whole.

Do you hear that bird? I think it lost its mother. I think it might be starving. Doesn’t it sound hungry?

Those birds wake me every morning.

Now watch this video do you think:

No one can keep true love apart. There is a bond between families that we are born into and those that we choose that remains strong through all of life’s trials.

The mom seems to be looking for another dog. I think one of the puppies is dead and she knows it.

I hate puppies.

I cycle through all three. Glad, sad, mad and then glad again. I am like a beginning kids reading book with more swearing.

What about you, are you more like to respond with anger, joy or sorrow? Have you seen the cartoon that starts out as a brilliant and nuanced illustration of these emotions and ends up a formulaic mess? Wait…you might have another interpretation of Inside Out. Or maybe my zig zagging between the _ads just leaves you confused. When I started putting this together I was a 2. Now I am pretty sure I am a 3. In any case it is good that I am working from home today.

Anna Rosenblum Palmer is a freelance writer based in Denver, CO. She writes about sex, parenting, cat pee, bi-polar disorder and the NFL; all things inextricably intertwined with her mental health. In her free time she teaches her boys creative swear words, seeks the last missing puzzle piece and thinks deeply about how she is not exercising. Her writing can be found on Babble, Parent.co, Great Moments in Parenting, Ravishly, Good Men Project, Sammiches and Psych Meds, Playpen, Crazy Good Parent, and YourTango. She also does a fair amount of navel gazing on her own blog at annarosenblumpalmer.com.

12 Comments

I’m a 3 all the way, any day. It’s just easier to expect the worst out of any situation, and be genuinely surprised if stuff actually works out. Than the other way around, and get disappointed.
Also, stuff never actually just works out. Just saying.

What happens if I see dead people? Lol I’m so mixed up, I could find a hundred different ways to love or hate those bears. “What we see depends on what we look for,” seems accurate. So for me, it’s not what’s out there, it’s what’s in here (as in, my head/heart).

their exclusive little square…because when the front ends, there is just an edge and a back isn’t there? My immediate reaction to the picture: that the guy in the front wanted me to know those fools in the back are conspiring.

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